Limericks For The Lord

And now for something completely different.

A couple of months ago I was approached by a potential client and asked if I could develop a site for him. This person leads a Sunday school class and wanted a site where he could post his daily reflections on the Scriptures. The catch? Well, it’s not really a catch, but what made this interesting is that his reflections are written in the form of limericks. And so I present to you, Bible Bus Limericks.

To give you an example of what he does, here is today’s limerick, entitled “HOSPITALITY SWEET.”

Wealthy lady, ‘bit long in the tooth,
Though hos-pit-able, had no male youth.
Gave E-li-sha a room.
Gained the fruit of the womb.
Had a son, as did Bo-az and Ruth.

Each limerick is accompanied by notations, Scripture verses (I ended up installing the entire KJV Bible at the site) and discussion. There is also a place to leave comments and people can subscribe to the regular updates, via email or RSS.

“Limericks are like verbal cartoons. People scan the headlines and then head for the cartoons. The ‘best read’ item on the editorial page is the cartoon. All cartoons have a funny twist. One can scan it in 10 seconds. It’s the ultimate ‘sound-bite’. These Limericks are Bible Bytes.”

The “Bus Driver,” the gentleman who writes these limericks, is 80 years old. “As the Bus Driver, aka The Bible Bard, is now 80 and has a little more time on his hands than when he and Mrs. B. were raising 9 kids, it should only take about 8 more years to complete the tour thru Revelation. Then, God willing, the Bard will start over and fill in any potholes he has missed.”

I can hardly think of a better way to spend retirement than to lead Bible studies and to give people a daily gift from the Word, even if it is in the form of a limerick! And if you think you can’t learn from a limerick, think again. In creating and designing this site, I learned quite a few little nuggets of truth from these poems (generally historical rather than theological, but important nonetheless).

There were a few struggles with the coding of the site, but on the whole I am well-pleased with the result. More importantly, the client loves it. My buddy Darren, who is an extraordinarily talented artist, designed that amazing banner for me.

This is why I enjoy web design. I never know what the next project is going to be…

Speaking of which, if you are in the market for a web site, drop me a line. I am, as usual, seeking new work at this time.